Stevia: Not Ready For Prime Time

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Three petitions seeking approval of stevia or
stevioside as a food additive
have been submitted to FDA since 1989 from (1) a stevia importer in Texas;
(2)
the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), a trade association; and
(3)
the Thomas J. Lipton Company. All three petitions were, in effect,
rejected
because of inadequate data on the safety of stevia and stevioside.

Cargill and Coca-Cola have developed a purified extract of stevia called Truvia. In May 2008, Cargill submitted for publication in the scientific journal Food and Chemical Toxicology a series of studies and reviews which the companies believe establishes the safety of Truvia. CSPI is reviewing this literature now, as is the Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA has not posted on their Web site any of the
documentation from the
three petitions. However, the full text of the petition by the AHPA,
dated
October 21, 1991, is available at an alternative medicine website.http://www.holisticmed.com/sweet/stv-petition.txt

The Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and
Processes for the Ministry of
Agriculture, Fisheries and Food rejected an application for use of stevia
as a
sweetener in herbal teas because the applicant had not provided all of
the
information necessary to enable an assessment to be made, in a
three-paragraph
statement dated September 24, 1998. The Committee also agreed with
concerns
raised about the inadequacy of the data on the safety of stevia.http://www.maff.gov.uk/food/novel/980924.htm

World Health Organization

The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food
Additives (JECFA) reviewed
stevioside in 1998, but could not quantify an Acceptable Daily Intake
(ADI)
because of inadequate data on the composition and safety of
stevioside. The
Committee recommended that further studies be done on the metabolism
of
stevioside in humans and on the potential genetic effects of steviol
(a
metabolite of stevioside).

The text of their review, published in JECFA
Monograph Series 42, is not
available on the Internet. A summary table showing no ADI allocated
for
stevioside is dated June 1998.http://www.who.int/pcs/jecfa/summary_51.htm

Scientific research on stevia and stevioside

The two studies referenced in the article Stevia:
A Bittersweet Tale are: